Commercial Criminal Law

Criminal Defence, Company Representation und Criminal Compliance

The business world is increasingly coming under the particular scrutiny of public prosecutor’s investigations. Criminal charges and criminal procedural investigations constitute a heavy burden for the affected companies and persons in charge. Therefore, companies as well as their managers and directors have to observe a variety of regulations, not only in relation to the classic fields of fraud, breach of trust and tax offenses, but also supplementary penal provisions beyond the Criminal Code as well as regulations outside criminal law.

GvW Graf von Westphalen advises and defends individuals and companies in all areas of commercial criminal law and tax criminal law. Our scope of services includes both, preventive advice as well as support in all phases of a criminal and administrative offence proceeding. 

With regard to preventive advice, our focus is mainly on avoiding risks under criminal law for the company and its persons in charge by timely and adequate prevention measures. Moreover, we help to preventively develop and implement a suitable risk management and compliance system for the respective company. If there are indications for an illegal conduct in the company which might be relevant under criminal law, we advise on the required internal investigations and represent the company’s interests in the context of the criminal proceeding and beyond. 

As corporate criminal defence lawyers, we provide support to the company in the event of search measures, coordinate an effective defence, assist on the internal and external communication and protect the company from financial damage, in particular in the event of confiscation in the context of criminal procedural measures. If the company is the damaged party, we advise and represent the company on the prosecution of the infringements, e.g. by bringing a criminal charge, effectively advising on the criminal proceeding and on the so-called recovery procedures which serve to recover assets.

Our Key Focus Areas


General commercial criminal law (in particular breach of trust and fraud)


Foreign trade and customs criminal law


Construction criminal law


Insolvency criminal law


Antitrust criminal law


Tax criminal law


Environmental criminal law


Competition criminal law


Expertise across departments

GvW Graf von Westphalen’s special expertise primarily lies in the close network and cooperation with the highly specialized colleagues from the relevant civil law and public law departments, in particular foreign trade and customs law, capital markets law, building and construction law, corporate law, insolvency law, tax law and competition law. Thus, we guarantee one-stop, high-quality advice and representation at the material and criminal proceedings level.